Aditi Surie

Senior Consultant – Academics & Research | asurie at iihs dot ac dot in
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EDUCATION:
Ongoing    PhD, Urban Studies, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
2011    MA, Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi NCR, India
2009    BA, Sociology, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi, Delhi NCR, India

Countries: India
States: Karnataka, New Delhi, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal
Cities: Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata
Languages: English, Hindi, French

Aditi Surie teaches and researches digital labour platforms, worker well-being, and livelihoods in India. At IIHS, she leads the academic and policy research portfolio on technology and society. Aditi has conducted extensive sectoral studies of working men and women from 2015 onwards, across location-based work and online labour platforms, which describe working conditions, experience of platform design, and the nature of risk on platforms. She has co-edited Platformization and Informality, published by Palgrave Macmillan (2023), which brings Southern scholars into a dialogue on Global South-specific frameworks to understand quality and regulation of platform work.

Training

  • Urban Economy,Sociology, Urban Fellows Programme (UFP), IIHS
  • Digital Labour Markets and the Future of Work in Indian Cities/ Digital Economy and the Future of Work,Sociology, Urban Fellows Programme (UFP), IIHS

Journal Articles

  • Surie, A. (2021). Coalitions of socio-technical infrastructure: Platforms as essential services. Communication, Culture and Critique, 14(3), 539-544. https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcab044
  • Chowdhury, A. R., Surie, A., & Bhan, G. (2021). Breastfeeding knowledge and practices of working mothers in the informal economy in New Delhi: A formative study to explore new intervention pathways towards improved maternal and child health outcomes. Social Science & Medicine, 281, Article 114070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114070
  • Surie, A. (2020). On-demand platforms and pricing: How platforms can impact the informal urban economy, evidence from Bengaluru, India. Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation, 14(1), 83-100.
  • Horwood, C., Surie, A., Haskins, L., Luthuli, S., Hinton, R., Chowdhury, A., Rollins, N. (2020). Attitudes and perceptions about breastfeeding among female and male informal workers in India and South Africa. BMC Public Health 20, 875 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09013-9
  • Bhan, G., Surie, A., Horwood, C., Dobson, R., Alfers, L., Portela, A., & Rollins, N. (2020). Informal work and maternal and child health: A blind spot in public health and research. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 98(3), 219–221.
  • Surie, A., & Sharma, L. V. (2019). Climate change, Agrarian distress, and the role of digital labour markets: evidence from Bengaluru, Karnataka. Decision, 46(2), 127-138.
  • Surie, A., (2018, June 16). Are Ola and Uber Drivers Entrepreneurs or Exploited Workers?.  Economic & Political Weekly Engage. Retrieved from https://www.epw.in/engage/article/are-ola-and-uber-drivers-entrepreneurs-exploited-workers
  • Surie, A. (2017). Tech in work: organising informal work in India. Economic & Political Weekly, 52(20), 12-15.
  • Surie, A., & Koduganti, J. (2016). The emerging nature of work in platform economy companies in Bengaluru, India: Case of Uber and Ola cab drivers. E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies, 5(3), 1-30.

 

Books/ Book Chapters

  • Surie, A. (2023). Marketplace models and business strategies: Prioritising women’s work in the platform economy. In S. Dewan & K. Sanyal (Eds.), Empowerment or exploitation? global perspectives on women’s work in the platform economy (pp. 82-95). Just Jobs Network. https://www. justjobsnetwork.org/files/empowerment-orexploitation-global-perspectives-on-womenswork-in-the-platform-economy_may-2023.pdf
  • Surie, A., & Huws, U. (2023). Platformization and informality: Pathways of change, alteration, and transformation. In A. Surie & U. Huws (Eds.), Platformization and Informality (pp. 1–12). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11462-5_1
  • Surie, A., Goswami, A., Arakali, A., Revi, A., Ravindranath, D., Bhan, G., Anand, G., Balakrishnan, K., Kapoor, N., Sami, N., Vasanth, P., Anand, S., Smitha, M. B., Viswanath, S., Baberwal, S., Mitra, S., Batikar, T., & John, V. (2023). Towards a new urban practice: The urban fellows programme 2016-2022. Indian Institute for Human Settlements. https://doi.org/10.24943/9788195847303
  • Kumar, A. K. A., & Surie, A. (2023). Teachers in India and EdTech: A new part of the gig economy?. In P. Arora, U. Raman, & R. König (Eds.), Feminist futures of work: Reimagining labour in the digital economy.  Amsterdam University Press.
  • Surie, A., & Kumar, A. K. A. (2022). Gender out of focus: methodological reflections on work in India’s platform economy.  In Global Perspectives on Women, Work, and Digital Labour Platforms (pp. 73-80). Digital Future Society.
  • Surie, A., & Zerah, M-H. (2017). Purdah and politics: Women’s participation in local governance. In E. Denis & M-H. Zérah (Eds.), Subaltern urbanisation in India: an introduction to the dynamics of ordinary towns (pp. 397-420). New Delhi: Springer.

 

Other Writing

  • Surie, A., Zainudeen, A., Jayasinghe, G.,  Samaratunga, I.,  Kumar, A. K. A., Naik, M., Seth, P., Bandaranayake, R., de Silva, R., Dewan, S., Roy, S. N.,  & Amarasinghe, T. (2022). Ecosystems of engagement: Digital platforms and women’s work in Sri Lanka and India. International Development Research Centre.
  • Surie, A., & Tandon, A. (2023, April 20). Blinkit protests: For gig workers, there is no income security – and little legal recourse. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/blinkit-protests-for-gig-workers-there-is-no-income-security-8567205/
  • Surie, A. (2023, May 17). Rajasthan’s move spells some hope for gig workers. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/rajasthans-move-spells-some-hope-for-gig-workers/article66858299.ece
  • Surie, A. (2023, April 20). Blinkit protests: For gig workers, there is no income security – and little legal recourse. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/blinkit-protests-for-gig-workers-there-is-no-income-security-8567205/
  • Surie, A. (2022, April 09). What forces us to look at food delivery platforms’ powers differently. Economictimes.com. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/et-commentary/what-forces-us-to-look-at-food-delivery-platforms-powers-differently/articleshow/90734596.cms
  • Ravindranath, D., Chowdhury, A. R., Surie, A., & Bhan, G. (2021). Effects of social protection for women in informal work on maternal and child health outcomes: A systematic Literature Review. Indian Institute for Human Settlements.
  • Surie, A. (2020, October 8). Gig work and its skewed terms. The Hindu.
  • Surie, A. (2020, August 17). Pandemic exposure: ‘Platform’ infrastructure in public use in India. Compas Coronavirus and Mobility Forum.
  • Surie, A. (2020, March 25). Services at our doorstep. The Hindu.
  • Surie, A. (2019, November 12). The future of work. The Hindu.
  • Chowdhury, A. R., & Surie, A. (2018, September 4). To work or breastfeed: tough choice sets back women in India’s informal economy. Indiaspend. Retrieved from http://www.indiaspend.com/cover-story/to-work-or-breastfeed-tough-choice-sets-back-women-in-indias-informal-economy-25276
  • Surie, A. (2018, June 8). In the driver’s seat. Himal Southasian. Retrieved from http://himalmag.com/on-the-drivers-seat-uber-ola-india-strike/
  • Surie, A., & Neha S. (2017). The urban food system of Bangalore, India. Cape Town, South Africa: Hungry Cities Partnership, University of Cape Town.
  • Surie, A (2017, August 10). Working on the App-based Model. The Hindu. Retrieved from http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/working-on-the-app-based-model/article19458973.ece
  • Surie, A. (2016, April 28). Where Are the Women in Make in India’s Vision? The Mint Retrieved from http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/x1NJqQiCdx8bQrxE95ju6N/Where-are-the-women-in-Make-In-Indias-vision.html
  • Surie, A. (2014, November 11). The Indian Uber driver The Indian Express Retrieved from http://indianexpress.com/article/blogs/the-indian-uber-driver-2774392/
  • Surie, A. Koduganti, J. (2017, July 13). Nature of Platform Economy Work in India. Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru, KA, India.
  • Surie, A. (2016, August). The Emerging Nature of Work in Platforms. American Sociological Association Annual Meeting. Seattle, WA, USA. August 20-23, 2016.
  • Surie, A. Koduganti, J. (2016, September 19) Work on Platforms in India. British Sociological Association: Work, Employment and Society Annual Meeting. University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.
  • Surie, A., & Koduganti, J. (2016, June). Emerging nature of work in platform economy companies in India. Paper presented at the Fifth International Conference on Precarious Work and Vulnerable Workers, ADAPT (Association for International and Comparative Studies in Labour Law and Industrial Relations) and Middlesex University Business School, London.
  • Surie, A. (2014, April). Women councilors in Haryana’s small towns. Paper presented at the SUBURBIN project conference, India International Center, New Delhi.
  • Surie, A. (2014, December). Gender and Governance: Reflections from fieldwork. Paper presented at the Lassnet Conference, University of Perridiniya, Sri Lanka.
  • Surie, A. (2011, October). Re-Gendering Rape Law: a discursive reading of law commission reports. Paper presented at the National Queer Conference, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India.
  • Surie, A. (2011, March). Pas de Bèbes à la Consigne – an indirect investigation into childcare, India International Center, New Delhi, India.
  • CMRETAC Project: Towards a Different Future of Work: A Framework for Informal Work and Workers in Urban Rajasthan
  • Digital Labour Database
  • Digital Platforms and Women’s Work in Sri Lanka and India
  • PEAK Urban: Mapping Bangalore’s Industrial Transformation
  • Understanding and Improving Women’s Work on Digital Labour Platforms
  • Learning Study on Platform Design
  • Collaborative Project on Case-Based Teaching